Topics

1

Kegging and Bottling / pressure filler from keg? vs old fashioned bottling from secondary

« on: May 31, 2013, 01:07:08 PM »

Okay, pardon me for not doing a search but I am lazy and it is Friday afternoon and my weekend ends tomorrow at 1100 hours so I have already assumed that the sun is over the yardarm and I am on my ? brew.
That being said, and having excused myself and taken for granted the kindness and patience of my fellow AHA members, I ask the question which follows.
what is the advantage of a pressure bottle filler arrangement? and where to get educated about how to use one? oops, two questions.
Background. They, bottle fillers,  seem to be expensive and I do not know how to use them. But, I like kegging a heck of a lot more than bottling and do not often care about giving my brews away (off premises). Currently I keg some and bottle some. And, for what it is worth, my bottled brew always seems to taste a bit off, at least compared to my kegged brew from the same batch. And that, pride being a big elephant in the closet for a relatively new homebrewer, is one of the big issues here. Why is my beer from a bottle, aged according to specs, tasting so differerent than that from the keg, although granted the keg is consumed in merely a few weeks, (days!?...hmm, after carbonation, of course). I consistently use corn sugar and about the same amount recommended by recognised books and am careful of sanitation, though no one is perfect and I have had to toss a batch or two and no one is perfect but really, can there be that big a difference? Guess so.
Back to the question, how about those pressure bottle fillers where I keg all my brew and only fill bottles as needed or wanted?
Thanks for your indulgence and I hope there are those amoung you who have current experience and can lend some free advice. I really enjoy this hobby.

2

All Grain Brewing / SG OG BG FG,... why is my post boil reading lower than pre boil?

« on: May 07, 2013, 03:46:04 PM »

Twice now I have measured preboil gravity and then post boil and found they are close, but just a bit higher after the boil. All grain, 10 gallons, using a thermopen to check the temperature of my sample. I usually collect about 13 gallons of wort and have around 11+ after 60 minute boil. For example, today I got 1.016 at 180f pre boil (converts to 1.045?) and 1.042 at 70f post boil (1.043?). I am more than happy with my efficiency and all that, but I had thought the gravity would increase as volume decreased during the boil. Any thoughts? Maybe this is within the margin of error considering my instruments.

3

All Grain Brewing / Mashing with flaked maize

« on: March 14, 2013, 12:55:28 PM »

Trying first batch using adjunct flaked maize. Have read to put some rice hulls at bottom of mash tun. Question, does the flaked maize get crushed along with my base malts? Using about 9 lbs pilsner, 9 lbs 2 row and 3 lbs of flaked maize for a 10 gallon batch of cream ale. Thanks in advance.

4

Equipment and Software / recirculating wort return device

« on: January 30, 2013, 09:16:03 AM »

I have been trying different ways to recirculate my wort at the end of mashing and tried this seemingly simple method last brewing session. It worked very well without any channelling that I could detect. It is a stainless pickup tube connected to a weld less fitting through the side of the keggle. On the other end is short length of tubing with a wort aerator inserted into it. I fitted a clamp over this because I was concerned it might come loose while mashing. The fit is very snug and the clamp is probably not needed but,....
The wort exits just below the top level of fluid in the mash when I am converting a typical 10 gallon batch. On the outside of the keggle through fitting I have a valve to regulate the flow rate. Of course this requires a pump, which I already had as part of my brew rig.
I really like the results of recirculating the wort until it flows into the MT clear as glass. And this latest step in the evolution of my brew rig clears the way for some type of heat exchange to better maintain my mash temp and perhaps perform step mashes.

5

Beer Recipes / ? Ale made with german lager yeast ?

« on: December 12, 2012, 12:06:58 PM »

I am notmready to try my luck at brewing a lager quite yet but, I got ahead of myself and ordered some WLP830 German Lager Yeast. I have brewed a couple california common style batches using lager yeast, what are the chances of getting similar good results fermenting at ale temps with this yeast? Any ideas for a recipe? I did a search but everything that came up was fermrnted at lager temps. Thanks for any ideas.

6

Ingredients / backwards recipe creation

« on: July 12, 2012, 02:42:43 PM »

Not sure that subject describes the question but here goes: I have a bunch of hops and some yeast and want to make some beer. Is there a web site or something that I can begin with either hops or yeast and come up with the other ingredients for the brew? I am manually searching my back issues of BYO and Zymurgy but it is time consuming and I want to place an order for grain. Oh yeah, that is the missing ingredient and I want to determine how much of what for the grain bill. Thanks in advance.
back to the search.....

7

Equipment and Software / Aeration? How important is the method?

« on: June 22, 2012, 01:27:20 PM »

My next system upgrade may be an aquarium pump for aerating the wort. At present I am pouring from bucket to bucket a couple times and results are fine. But along with implementing yeast starters I figured an aeration system would be a logical step. Opinions on pros and cons and good ideas about technique are welcome. I already bought a stone and HEPA filter a while back, got ahead of myself in the beginning. Now with harvesting yeast and making starters to help things get going, well, the hobby can be a self licking ice cream cone. I wonder what kinds of different methods folks are using and what the various opinions are.
ps. My transition to batch sparging has yielded excellent results and I can't see going back to trying to fly sparge. I'm still using my pump to vorlauf and am pleased with how clear the wort is.
Thanks in advance.

8

Equipment and Software / recirculating boil kettle during immersion chilling

« on: June 08, 2012, 05:06:49 AM »

Living where the ground water is rarely below 85 deg F I have had trouble getting my boil cooled to pitching temperature. Yesterday I rigged my pump to recirculate the wort in the boil kettle and nearly halved the time it took to reach 70 deg F. I still used ice to get the ground water cooled, but not until around 100 deg F. Previously it would take nearly an hour to reach this temperature.

Just about the best advance in my brew session yet.

9

All Grain Brewing / oxidation risk with batch sparging

« on: June 07, 2012, 05:59:49 AM »

I have done a little of both batch and continuous sparging and am wondering about the increased risk of oxidation when the grain bed is uncovered with batch sparging. I was reading some of the threads concerning fly vs batch sparging and noticed simplicity and wort clarity mentioned but not oxidation. Is oxidation such a small problem that it doesn't out weigh the other benefits? In the March-April 2008 BYO there is an article comparing the two methods and it mentioned a sort of hybrid technique where the wort is drained but not completely, so that the grain bed remains covered and then additional water added prior to draining again. This process is repeated as often as needed until the correct boil volume is obtained. I may give this a try as I no longer have a set up that allows me to both add water and drain simultaneously.

I am curious if folks more experienced with batch sparging have any issues with oxidation.

10

Yeast and Fermentation / when is fermentation through

« on: May 30, 2012, 08:00:30 AM »

I have been all grain brewing for almost a year now and, pretty much, always followed a formula of two weeks in primary and one week in secondary and then keg/bottle. I have been reading posts reflecting the opinion that secondary is not necessary, perhaps even unwise, unless conditions such as dry hopping, lagerring or some others dictate it. So my question is how to determine when to rack to the keg based on temperature. I have those stick on thermometer things on both my fermentation buckets and the temperature reads 70 deg F and there is only an occasional bubble in the airlock. I brewed six days ago on May 24 and the fermentation got off to a great start, bubbling away during the first 24 hours. The temperature rose to 74 deg F during the first several days (I was out of town during some of that time). The fermentation chamber is a temperature controlled chest freezer held at 70 deg F, plus or minus a couple deg.
So, should I rack to my keg/bottles or give the yeast more time to clean things up despite the obvious temperature drop?
Thanks in advance.

11

Yeast and Fermentation / when to add nutrient to starter

« on: May 09, 2012, 07:33:55 AM »

I am making my first starter and was wondering about adding yeast nutrient. During wort boiling or when I pitch the yeast. I was thinking that the nutrient should be boiled just like the wort so it is sterilized but, would boiling kill any helpful nutrients? If I add it to the cooled wort am I likely to add contaminants that haven't been sterilized?
The stuff is Fermax Yeast Nutrient by Crosby and Baker, Ltd. I bought at local homebrew supplier.
Thanks in advance.

12

Kegging and Bottling / force carbonation

« on: April 11, 2012, 04:51:09 PM »

trying to get a 2.5 gal keg carbonated in a shorter time frame than normal. I figured I would shake it a bit after it reached a colder temp. My question is: how often to rattle it's cage and for about how long. the keg is connected to a Co2 at about 10-12 psi. That is about the pressure I am aiming for on the other 5 gal keg connected to the same system.

So...... how much shaking and how often. I can just use instincts and go with what feels right, but I thought I would ask? Thanks.

13

Kegging and Bottling / balancing ?

« on: January 16, 2012, 04:03:17 PM »

I just read on a web site from long ago about something the author termed balancing. the idea was that the pressure required to force carbonate was higher than that desired to dispense between different kegs. this was very interesting to me as I am getting ready to add up to four kegs of (possibly) different beers inside my beer fridge, under one Co2 source. since the kegs will be added at approximately two week intervals, some will be in the force carbonation stage while the ones with the most tenure will have been on tap for a month or more. my Co2 tank is outside the fridge and I don't want to get a secondary regulator or drill another hole to run a second air line into the fridge so I can have two different pressures - one for serving and another for force carbonating.
So.... here is the jist, by using a longer length of beer line for the tap (20 feet of 1/4"), the pressure is reduced - or something like that - and the beer dispenses without the foam from being under too much psi. huh???
why didnt i think of that, or at least read it on one of the many manufacturers web sites? ps. some of them have lots of info on kegging but not so much on enabling you to get by without buying more stuff. duh, again.
oh well, i am going to try it as soon as my distribution manifold arrives and the next batch is ready to keg. of course, this assumes brewing outpaces consumption, up to now, this has been a problem.
is there a good source of info on the reduction in pressure - relating to dispensing beer - as the length of the tubing increases?
thanks.
if you visit Miami come by for a free beer.

14

Kegging and Bottling / Sweet bottled beer

« on: December 18, 2011, 02:19:10 PM »

How can this be? I brewed a great ten gallon all grain pale ale. When ready, I kegged half and then added priming sugar - carefully calculated according to the book - and bottled the remaining five gallons. In about a week I was drinking some of my best brew yet out of the keg. Now it is five weeks and I chilled some of the bottles to enjoy while catching some games. It tastes like sugar! WTFO!
Only one bottle so I hopeit was a fluke. During the ensuing five weeks I have brewed and kegged and drank two other batches from my kegs and they were wonderful. I also bottled some and I am hoping they won't be sweet tasting. ONCE AGAIN, THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF PRIMING SUGAR ACCORDING TO THE BOOK. did I miss something else or should I just get more kegging stuff and recycle ALL my bottles? I will also need another beer fridge.
Thanks in advance.

15

Kegging and Bottling / Stop applying Co2, what happens.

« on: November 19, 2011, 07:41:53 PM »

Getting ready to bring one more keg online and had to disconnect one. Hooked up a Co2 dispenser thingy to make the beer available but as a few days passed it seems the keg that was cut from the Co2 bottle began to lose carb!? Is this possible or my imagination? The keg had been fully carbonated and consumed for a couple weeks (maybe less)  while connected to the tank. my question is whether or not beer in a keg can lose carbonation if it is disconnected from the Co2 bottle. Seems as though it has already absorbed as much as it can and should hold it. Hummmmmm.
Ps. I plan to implement some kind of distribution plumbing so I can keep all three kegs hooked up,in the future.